According to CNN, 11 members of the Secret Service are under investigation for improper conduct before the arrival of the president in Cartagena, Colombia, for the Summit of the Americas. The men in question reportedly solicited prostitutes, and there was a dispute in the hotel room over payment.
Prostitution is legal in Colombia in certain "tolerance zones" where such activity is allowed.
The Secret Service agents have been relieved of duty and have been sent back to Washington, D.C., for investigation. Five more agents have been confined to quarters in Cartagena for violating curfew and possibly participating in misconduct. None of the men are part of President Obam's personal security detail, and Obama was not based out of the hotel in question.
CNN reports:
Rep. Peter King, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, was briefed on the matter and told CNN that the government personnel brought prostitutes back to their rooms Wednesday night and "one of the women did not leave the room in the morning."
A hotel manager tried to get in the room, and eventually the woman emerged and said "they owed her money," according to King. Similarly, U.S. government sources said there was a dispute between at least one Secret Service member and a woman brought back to his hotel over a request to be paid.
At least one of the women brought to the hotel talked with police, and complaints were filed with the U.S. Embassy, the sources said.
"The Secret Service saw that report, and they immediately began an investigation," King said.
Correction: An earlier version of this article described the agents under investigation as being part of Obama's security detail during his trip to Columbia. They were not a part of his personal detail, and they were in the country in advance of the president's arrival.
Read more at CNN.